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Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/qoregexp/public_html/secure.txt:12) in /home/qoregexp/public_html/forum/includes/page_header.txt on line 528Cross Stitch Patterns by Scarlet Quince | What kind of personality do stitchers have?

What kind of personality do stitchers have?

That's awesome, Katie, good on you! And good on your son! Don't worry about the girlfriend, she'll come round when she realises that a man who can stitch can probably do the dishes and cook dinner too! :wink:[/quote]

Alanna,

My wife would say that being a stitcher does not necessarily lead to cooking and dishes. In fact, she sometimes complains when I am stitching and she is in the kitchen. Fortunately, she has put up with me for a long time; our 45th anniversary will be in December. Nevertheless, I too am pleased that Katie has her sons stitching.

My question: how old does a child need to be before one can introduce them to cross stitching. My 3 year old grand daughter is always interested in my stitching. She can count and knows what an x is, but I don't know if her motor skills are good enough to actually do the stitches. I have considered buying her a piece of plastic and a large needle, but my wife thinks we need to wait a few more years. Anyone have experience teaching very young children?

Never too young to start, Ed. The only essential ingredient is her interest, the rest takes care of itself. As for motor skills, I started ballet when I was 4 and the teacher was concerned that I might be too late and have trouble catching up to the other kids who'd been going since they were two, so don't worry about that! Just remember that the results don't have to be perfect, if her crosses look like hexagons it doesn't matter so long as she's having a good time, creating positive associations and learning the skills little by little. So grab some big open weave canvas, a big plastic needle and some brightly coloured wool and get her started! She mightn't want to follow a pattern at first, just make stitches and see where her creativiity takes her, and then when she's ready get her a bright happy pattern of something she likes, like the Winnie the Pooh or something. A new stitcher in the making!

My question: how old does a child need to be before one can introduce them to cross stitching. My 3 year old grand daughter is always interested in my stitching. She can count and knows what an x is, but I don't know if her motor skills are good enough to actually do the stitches. I have considered buying her a piece of plastic and a large needle, but my wife thinks we need to wait a few more years. Anyone have experience teaching very young children?

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Hi Ed,

I started stitching at 4 - no plastic just X's drawn on cloth using red yard and a big needle.

I started at 5 Ed and just like Cecelia . My Grandmother taught me on Gingham black and white and I crossed on the white checks with red , big needle too.
These were placemats or serviette's

Groetjes
Trudie

My wife would say that being a stitcher does not necessarily lead to cooking and dishes. In fact, she sometimes complains when I am stitching and she is in the kitchen. Fortunately, she has put up with me for a long time; our 45th anniversary will be in December. Nevertheless, I too am pleased that Katie has her sons stitching.

My question: how old does a child need to be before one can introduce them to cross stitching. My 3 year old grand daughter is always interested in my stitching. She can count and knows what an x is, but I don't know if her motor skills are good enough to actually do the stitches. I have considered buying her a piece of plastic and a large needle, but my wife thinks we need to wait a few more years. Anyone have experience teaching very young children?[/quote]

My 6 yr. old daughter asked me this weekend to teach her. She wants to do something herself & asked for it to be simple (not complicated like mine). I told her I'd get a beginner kit for her. I've seen some at Michael's with larger count & figured that will hold her interest if it's an actual picture. Like anything, it all depends on the kid's interest & determination. Good luck!

Update, Michael's has small cross stitch kits for kids. There's both stamped & counted 11 count (dolphin, frog, duck & cat) for $2.99. My 6 yr. old daughter started the stamped dolphin & my 8 yr. old son started the counted duck last night. They both seemed to like it & the only recurring problem is pulling too much where the thread comes out of the needle. Neither one has the threading part down yet so I spent my time rethreading.

Ed, if she has her heart set on learning and doing xstitch, teach her, my grandmother took that time when I was about 5, I can remember it like yesterday (long time ago). started of with evenweave, 11 ct, it became a bookmark, and it's still here. The patterns werea little tree in green and a little animal in red.
But as Sverzino pointed out, threading the needle took more time to learn then the stitching itself.Enough choise in the US in the shops. It's all part of the learning process. It doesn't have to be perfect, as long as she enjoys herself.
Keep us updated and enjoy!
Happy

Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I figured this was a good one for introductions of new members

So, a bit about me and my stitching:
- I am very precise. Like Rife, I believe you can never have enough lists. I have lists of what to buy, what I've bought, what to do... I have organized all our books in a special cataloging program on our computer, and am looking to do the same for our CDs, DVDs and games.
- I love our computer and my gadgets. When traveling to work I carry my Nintendo DS, my iPod and my iPhone and use them all In house I have our computer (Macbook) and several other gadgets hooked up to the tv You can say I am a huge nerd.
- I have many diverse hobbies. In my spare time I collect anything about Bette Midler (love her!), organize this collection, work on my website (more for the development than the content), study Medieval History (privately, not at a school or university), stitch (of course ), game (Nintendo DS and Wii)... busy busy busy.
- I work at the national libary of the netherlands, and there I do research in the conservation of digital objects. This combines the best of both worlds for me, heritage and digital. Ideal for a history loving nerd like me.
- When stitching (or working on any other project for that matter) I need to finish one before starting work on another. I know that if I don't do this, I will never finish the first one. To facilitate this I make up little rules for myself. For example, I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't buy a new pattern before I was ready to start filling in my current project with white, which is the last step before completion. I do have one WIP that I haven't worked on in about 5 years, because of a big error (big to me at least, it is a pattern of all kinds of little puppies, lined up, and one of the pups is one cross off)... Maybe I should see if I can set myself to work on it again.
- When I stitch, the TV is on. I don't really watch TV (ever), I am too restless. I am always doing something else while watching TV, be it reading a magazine, playing a game... So TV and stitching is a good combination for me.
- I never stitch on the road. I commute a lot during the week, about 3 hours in the train daily. But I am too scared to either mess up or get my work dirty, so I won't take my work with me unless I am spending the night with family.